Proposal Two For my thesis project I am interested in investigating relations of representation within the realm of intellectual property. When systems of law are set up to enforce possession of forms, words, and ideas, graphic design acts as a force to uphold ownership. Moreover, when information is commodified as property, the owner possesses information at the expense of the dispossessed. Contextually, my thesis will examine how representations work within the domain of IP to enforce the law. A thesis on intellectual property might situate itself somewhere within Marxist or anarchist notions of property. The idea of information as property is also worth contrasting with the copyleft movement, creative commons, open source programs and the free software culture. This leads me to process, where I will begin by focusing on the relationships of representation and the process of abstraction. I intend to showcase the levels of abstraction between a physical object and its accompanying representation, for example how graphic symbols and words can become property (i.e. Apple owning the word ‘Apple’). I also intend to label, reveal and make explicit varying relations of ownership which are often overlooked. Practice will allow me to create a visual
methodology with books, prints, films, and information visualizations while participating in the open source movement through the creation of new tools I make myself with Processing. Form will allow me to engage the subject matter aesthetically, politically and philosophically. I am interested in graphic design that challenges accepted paradigms of ownership. For example, designers often support copyright out of convention, even if their practice might benefit from dismissing this form of private ownership. By carrying out this thesis I hope to identify the role graphic design plays in protecting private property. My intended outcome is to make the viewer reconsider their relationship to copyright, and the limitations imposed on design through copyright. My sources will include philosophers, artists, designers, statisticians and political theorists including but not limited to: Marx, Lessig, Stallman, Lazzarato, Borges, Barnbrook, Venezky, Wark, Tufte, Fry and Reas. More specifically, the political theorists will inform my critique of intellectual property, while the open source programmers will inform how the work can be distributed.
39